I’ve fussed about the differences between Paris and New York several times in my writing career (hint, nobody is rude) but few things make the comparison better than a side-by-side video. Tony Miotto did a great job with this one on Vimeo. Its beauties, I think, are in the subtleties of the comparisons, the way the design at the Parisian Louvre parallels that of the Apple Store in Manhattan or the ways that Kennedy and Charles de Gaulle are circuitously drawn by wandering airplanes.
There’s so much happening that I had to watch the video several times to pick up on all of the quick comparisons. You should too. It’s a great video.
Remember scavenger hunts? The game where individuals or teams go out into the world to gather the items on predetermined list? Whoever gets them all first wins? Great.
In a unique twist on the game, UrbanQuest is a scavenger hunt in a great city that ends at a restaurant where reservations have been made. Along the way, “Questers” learn their way around the city in a fun and challenging way and everyone is a winner.
Held Amazing-Race style, groups of Questers download their clue package online then hit the streets to solve interesting puzzles that force teams to be resourceful. The final destination is a mystery restaurant where UrbanQuest has made a reservation for you. Timed to take about an hour and a half to complete, reservations are made for two hours after starting to allow some extra time for slow teams.
After buying a Quest online, it can be launched from your My Quests pages anytime. While the exact restaurant will be a surprise, you’ll pick a general category, just to be sure it is the kind of food the team will enjoy. Get stuck on a clue, see hints and answers on the included clue package that you printed off before starting.
In New York, for example, two Quests are offered. A Walk In The Park is a Quest in Central Park and another one sends Questers around Rockefeller Center. Each is priced at $28.99 per person + tax and the meal.
UrbanQuest is currently available in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Washington DC, Chicago, Indianpolis, Louisville, Baltimore, Boston, Princeton, Cincinnati, Portland, Philadelphia, Nashville and Seattle plus a number of Canadian cities and some international destinations with more cities on the way. UrbanQuest customers who have successfully completed a Quest are invited to be QuestTesters, trying out new Quests before they become available to the public
UrbanQuest looks to be great for dates, groups of friends, family outings or office team building and can be gifted via e-gift cards.
New York is going after more tourist business in a big way, building the world’s tallest Ferris wheel along the waterfront in Staten Island. To be called the New York Wheel, at 625 feet it will be 5 feet taller than the planned High Roller wheel for the Las Vegas Strip, 84 feet taller than the Singapore Flyer and carry over 1400 passengers at a time.
“The New York Wheel and the retail outlet mall will attract millions of visitors from around the five boroughs and around the world, bringing jobs and private investment to Staten Island,” Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert K. Steel said in a statement. “The New York Wheel will be the newest member of New York’s global tourist attractions.”
The New York Wheel will have 36 capsules, each able to carry up to 40 passengers. Expected to draw 30,000 riders a day during peak season, adding up to 4.5 million visitors per year. At the wheel’s base will be a 100,000-square-foot terminal building, which will house retail, restaurant and theater space, along with exhibitions about New York City history, alternative energy and environmental sustainability.Not far will be Harbor Commons, a 350,000-square-foot retail complex with outlet stores, restaurants and a 200-room hotel with views of the Manhattan skyline.
To be designed by some of the same people that worked on the London Eye, construction is expected to begin in early 2014, with the goal of opening by the end of 2015.
The New York Wheel may not be the tallest wheel in the world; the Singapore Flyer can whisk 1,260 passengers around hourly to see a panorama of three different countries below as we see in this video:
Here’s a bit of nostalgia for all you old-time New Yorkers out there.
This mini-documentary on Times Square really captures my memories of it from the 1980s. Walking around there with my friends at night was a gritty, sleazy, surreal experience. Touts tried to sell you stolen watches or draw you into shell games or strip shows. Street preachers screamed at the crowd and were totally ignored. Lights flashed. Cars honked. People swore at one another or offered you drugs labeled under a bewildering variety of street names (anybody know what “rust” was?).
Despite this footage being a quarter of a century old, I recognize some of these places. The theater marquees are unforgettable, of course. There was one place where you could see a Kung Fu double feature for a dollar. That video arcade in the film was a favorite hangout of ours. We knew about the pickpockets and always watched out for one another. Still, it’s amazing we survived all those trips without ever having any serious trouble.
I haven’t been back to New York for 15 years. From what I’ve heard, it’s changed too much. Times Square has been turned into a touristy shopping mall, and throughout Manhattan many of the small shops, like those wonderful indie bookstores, have disappeared. I have lots of friends and fellow bloggers in New York who are always inviting me to come over. I’m not sure I ever will. I think I’ll just keep my memories of the trashy yet vibrant New York of my teens.
During the Civil War, New York was the wealthiest and most populous state on either side of the conflict. A new exhibition at the New York State Museum in Albany examines the important role New York played in preserving the Union.
“An Irrepressible Conflict: The Empire State in the Civil War” features more than two hundred artifacts, documents and images centering around the themes of Antebellum New York, the Civil War, and Reconstruction and Legacy. Artifacts on display include a Lincoln life mask from 1860, the earliest photograph of Frederick Douglass, and the only known portrait of Dred Scott. There’s also a slave collar from c.1806 to point out the often-overlooked fact that slavery was once common in this northern state.
The exhibition examines various aspects of the war and home front and has a section dedicated to the Elmira Prison Camp, dubbed “Hellmira” by the Confederate soldiers interned there. Nearly 25 percent of them died from malnutrition, exposure and disease.
In a press release, the museum stated that the exhibition’s title was inspired by an 1858 quote from then U.S. Senator William H. Seward, who disagreed with those who believed that the prospect of war between the North and South was the work of “fanatical agitators.” He understood that the roots of conflict went far deeper, writing, “It is an irrepressible conflict, between opposing and enduring forces.”
“An Irrepressible Conflict: The Empire State in the Civil War” starts today and runs until September 22, 2013.
[Photo of noncommissioned officers’ mess of Co. D, 93d New York Infantry courtesy Library of Congress]